Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences
Open Access

Moringa oleifera and Moringa peregrina, the miracle trees, as super-foods from the ancient times of the pharaohs to the 21st century

21^st International Conference on Food & Nutrition

July 25-26, 2018 | Vancouver, Canada

Yiftach Vaknin

Agricultural Research Organization, Israel

Keynote: J Nutr Food Sci

Abstract :

The Moringaceae is a monogeneric family consisting of 13 species distributed throughout the dry tropics of the old world. The most widely distributed and economically important Moringa species are: (1) M. Oleifera, one of the most nutritious plants in the world, originated from India and now planted globally as a multi-purpose crop for edible seed-oil, leaves as an excellent food supplement, fodder and medicine, and seed powder as a natural coagulant for water purification (2) Moringa peregrina, an endangered tree endemic to the Arab peninsula and Northern Africa with seed-oil used for food and cosmetics as far as the time of the ancient pharaohs. However, breeding efforts have been concentrated primarily on M. oleifera at the production of edible green pods and seed-oil, with very few reported varieties. We at Volcani Center initiated an R&D program on development of both species as new edible crops for seed-oil, seed-protein and fresh leaves under Mediterranean conditions: 1. We developed a NIRS method for non-destructive seed analysis of weight, oil and protein contents; 2. We developed M. oleifera as a fully mechanized field-crop for fresh leaves; and 3. We evaluated M. oleifera leaves as animal-feed and found it to significantly improve cows' milk nutritional value and design a more tender lambs' meat. We concluded that M. oleifera was better suited for leaf, seed-oil and seed-protein production under Mediterranean conditions. Nevertheless, production of M. oleifera x Moringa peregrina interspecies hybrids was suggested in order to enhance oil production and reduce susceptibility to local diseases.

Biography :

Yiftach Vaknin has completed his Ph.D. at the age of 33 years from Tel-Aviv University and postdoctoral studies from UC Davis, Pomology Department, CA, and UMR INRA/UAPV Ecologie des Invertébrés, France. He is currently a senior researcher at the Department of Natural Resources, Volcani Center in Israel. He has published more than 35 papers in reputed journals and has developed new crops and innovative agro-technological methodologies for the food and bioenergy industries.

E-mail: yiftachv@volcani.agri.gov.il